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| Edition: | Progeny Press (Perfect Paperback) |
| Author: | Richard and Florence Atwater |
| Published: | August 2007 |
| Pages: | 60 |
| ISBN 10: | 1586093231 |
| New: | $14.85 (6) |
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Mr. Popper is a house painter. He is a man who dreams of traveling to many far places around the world. Mr. Popper does not have any money for these trips. He is an avid reader and usually reads magazines about famous people and distant lands. One day, the Popper family tunes in to a radio broadcast by an Admiral Drake, who is exploring Antarctica, and they are surprised. The admiral has actually answered a letter from Mr. Popper! He promises Mr. Popper a surprise in the mail.
On that day, Mr. Popper gets his surprise. It comes in a big package. The Popper family is excited by their new surprise, a penguin, which is now living in its new habitat. Mr. Popper names the penguin "Captain Cook" (after the famous James Cook) and he cleans out the freezer (icebox) so that the penguin can sleep inside. Captain Cook is very playful, if not a little weird (he eats the Popper family's goldfish when the he arrived). As time goes by, the Poppers find that Captain Cook is growing large, yet his health is failing. Mr. Popper writes to the curator of a large aquarium, asking for help. The curator replies that the aquarium has a female penguin, Greta, who unfortunately is also experiencing the same symptoms, and he suggests that perhaps the penguins are simply lonely. Soon after, the Poppers receive their second penguin in the mail.
The pair of penguins are revitalized by each others presence. The Poppers are not quite sure of what to do with them, because they will not both fit in the icebox. Mr. Popper then simply opens the window to let in the cold winter air. Mrs. Popper becomes upset, however, because the snow covers the entire floor. The Popper children love it, however. They have fun with the penguins, but opening the windows will not work in springtime. Therefore, Mr. Popper has the main things moved upstairs and a freezing plant installed in the basement for the birds. The Poppers are now in huge debt.
As time passes, Greta lays an egg. Although normal penguins do not lay more than two eggs at a time, Greta continues laying a new egg every three days until the total reaches ten. Mr. Popper attributes this to the change in climate the birds have experienced. When the eggs hatch, the Popper family now have twelve penguins to feed, and the contractor is looking for payment on the household changes. The Popper family are now out of money.
Mr. Popper decides to raise money by training the twelve penguins and featuring them into a circus act. The birds are going at the local theater, and soon, the "Popper's Performing Penguins" are featured throughout the country. But in the theater in New York, the penguins cause trouble; what's worse, they've accidentally shown up at the wrong theater. The manager of the wrong theater is extremely angry and has Mr. Popper arrested, along with the penguins.
Bail is posted for Mr. Popper by Admiral Drake. This is because Admiral Drake had heard about Popper's Performing Penguins, and had wanted to see it for himself. After speaking with Drake, Popper decides that show business is no life for a penguin. Drake lets all of the twelve penguins go with him on his expedition to the North Pole, where they will be released into the Arctic. (This is not a factual error; the characters are aware that penguins normally live only in the southern hemisphere.) The Poppers are sad to see the penguins go, especially Mr. Popper himself — that is, until Admiral Drake invites Mr. Popper to accompany him on the trip. The Poppers wave goodbye as Mr. Popper and his penguins sail away towards the North Pole.
